Cultivation
by MintiNeko
Summary: One day, aniki, I'll find a way to forgive you." But for now he struggles to do so. slight SasuSaku


Oneshot collection! Yeah!

Inspired by the recent Naruto chapters. I feel so bad for the Uchiha, period.

**Disclaimer: **I will never own Naruto

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"I'll never forgive him."

He says the words with such bitterness, such anger, that Sakura pauses in her tending of the grave to look towards him. He sits in front of his father's grave, staring right into the inscription, expression as hard and cold as she had ever seen it.

"What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?" She asks quietly, though she already knows. It's the reason that his only trials will be with Tsunade and Ibiki, without any of the elders in sight. It's the reason that he has gained the Amaterasu, though she has yet to see him use it even once.

It's the reason that he requested that Itachi's ashes be buried in the Uchiha graveyard.

"Itachi was the one who slaughtered them, the one I hated. But not the one who tore my life apart." A hard little smile curled up the corner of his mouth. "That bastard. I probably would have hated him anyway, but knowing about Danzo and the rest would have made…quite a difference."

Sakura isn't quite sure of what exactly he means, but she can guess. Though the thought that he might never have gone off to Orochimaru creates a deep ache in her heart, she knows what the consequences might've been had he stayed.

"They probably would have killed you, if you had." she says quietly, "Their eyes and ears are everywhere, if they had even _suspected_ you knew, they would have killed you as soon as the opportunity presented itself." Sakura knows; she's had to deal with their spying on more than one occasion, and only speaks freely here because the spies fear a great Uchiha curse and stay away from this section of town.

"To protect me. All the more reason it's difficult to forgive him." The slight smile became mocking. "It seems that allowing me spend half my life deluded, and making choices based on this delusion, was better than showing me the truth."

His hands are trembling, and he quickly fists them so as not to make it obvious.

"What am I supposed to do, aniki?" he asks quietly into the open air, forgetting Sakura, it seems. "I've pretty much wasted myself, hating the wrong person, even if you were the one to kill our family. I'll always hate you for that, but I can't even do _that_ whole-heartedly without feeling like I'm betraying someone; supposedly, Father was a villain, as well. I've invested too much time in hating you—and I can't stop, all because of your _fucking_ lies." Despite his efforts, tears trickle down his face.

Overcome with sympathy, unable to bear watching him like this, Sakura crawls over to where he sits. Slender arms wind loosely around his neck; he makes no attempt to shake them off.

"You haven't wasted yourself, Sasuke-kun," she whispers quietly to him, "You're here, you can start over."

Slowly, he shakes his head.

"Not after killing someone innocent."

"Sasuke-kun, what Itachi did to your family—that was wrong. Statistically, he committed the minimal number of casualties. Morally, it was just as horrible as any war—to you, and to anyone who knew you." She kisses him on the cheek, lightly, simple comfort. "You don't have to forgive him for that, but, maybe you could feel pity, maybe remember him as he was when you loved him."

She's only saying what she knows Sasuke knows. However, right now he needs to hear someone voice his thoughts, let him know it is _all right, _that the thoughts aren't taboo.

"I had planned on doing so," he speaks quietly, "after I killed a _villain_. Not after killing my older brother. Until Madara, they were two different people. Now," he glances at Itachi's grave, set apart from all the others. "They are the same. I didn't kill a villain, I murdered a hero."

"No, they aren't." Sakura is firm in her conviction. "Itachi took on a persona while in the Akatsuki. Loathe that persona, know that with his death, Itachi will never have to use it again, never terrorize anyone, and never, ever again _lie to you_."

He doesn't speak, but Sakura can feel him relaxing under her grasp.

Encouraged, she goes on, voicing the thoughts that are his as well as hers. "Sasuke-kun, no one's asking for you to honor Itachi, and no one's asking you to forgive him. Hell, people are amazed enough as it is that you're even _trying_."

"And because you're trying, there may come a day where you will forgive him for deceiving you."

He stands, pulling Sakura up with him, looking over the graveyard.

"I'm sorry," He speaks not to her, but to the dead souls that were once his family, "I'm sorry I didn't kill the true orchestrator of your deaths. The god himself will have to pass judgment on him." He bows to them, and Sakura follows suit.

Once they straighten up, he takes her hand and leads her out of the graveyard, pausing only to glance at Itachi's lonely grave.

_Don't worry, aniki. There will come a time when you will rejoin them._

_I'm sure of it._

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A/N: So… what didja think?


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